By Stephen Smoot
In 2014, with the blessing of Democratic governors Earl Ray Tomblin of the State of West Virginia and Terry MacAuliffe of the Commonwealth of Virginia, EQT Midstream Partners LP, NextEra Energy Inc, and several other partners prefiled an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to start the effort to construct the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Only last week did it commence operations.
“West Virginia continues to be one of our nation’s energy leaders, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline will help create new construction jobs for our workforce and identify markets for our state’s abundant supply of natural gas,” said Governor Tomblin in Oct 2014, adding that “these investments have the potential to create good-paying jobs and by keeping key byproducts in our state, we have the opportunity to rejuvenate our manufacturing sector and create promising opportunities for future generations.”
The Virginia governor saw the pipeline as key to the Commonwealth’s economic future, stating “Virginia must have world-class energy infrastructure that provides abundant access to low-cost energy sources. New natural gas pipelines, like the Mountain Valley Pipeline, will diversify our energy mix, reduce our Commonwealth’s carbon emissions, and help build a new Virginia economy.”
Other touted benefits in 2014 included offering access for natural gas to locals along the route and the ripple effect projection of nearly 10,000 jobs, a $1.2 billion economic impact during construction, and $47 million in tax receipts for West Virginia and $34 million in Virginia.
Construction was originally planned to start and end in 2018, but hit a number of critical delays.
The pipeline originates in Wetzel County and passes through several others in West Virginia, including Harrison, as it runs almost entirely from north to south. At the Virginia line, it turns in a southeasterly direction until it hits its terminus in Pittsylvania County. There it connects with the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline’s compressor station, which can take MVP gas as far south as Texas and as far north as New York State.
It will move up to 2.0 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day
Construction did not come without complaint. According to AlleghenyFront.org, an environmentalist publication, many filed complaints to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality. One complaining property owner, Kathy Chandler, noted that “DEQ tends to come after the fact and say ‘well, it looks ok.’ It’s been frustrating to say the least.
Virginia’s environmental agency explained that it investigated 42 complaints and found no instance in which the pipeline construction violated federal or state laws. It did, however, have issues with temporary sediment and mud.
One example of these issues occurred in January near the Virginia town of Newport where a spring normally used for fresh drinking water ran muddy for several weeks. Pipeline officials said that the excess sediment came from a bore pit. It coordinated with state and industry experts to mitigate the problem, which was corrected.
On May 1, the pipeline hit another setback when hydropressure testing revealed a rupture in the pipe near Roanoke, Virginia. According to a Virginia DEQ report, “inspectors investigating the complaint (of sediment laden water) observed turbid water in the stream channels conveying the release water.”
Sediments from the incident, not related to that which affected the Newport spring earlier, deposited in an area wetland. The company removed the excess sediment and repaired any damage caused.
The major project also attracted the attention of activists, such as those who chained themselves to equipment and unfurled banners near Elliston, Virginia and also at Peters Mountain in West Virginia earlier this year.
Opposition from anti pollution groups combined with complaints from advocates of global warming science to bring progress to a crawl for many of the 10 years it took to open the pipeline. United States Senator Shelley Moore Capito blamed “needless delays by courts and climate activists” while explaining that it received “all the necessary permits and approvals from both Republican and Democratic administrations.”
Last January also brought delays from natural sources. As Diana Charletta, President and CEO of current corporate operator Equitrans Midstream explained “While our construction plans took into account the potential effects of winter weather, these conditions were far worse and longer in duration than anticipated, imposing a significant impact on productivity, which, in turn, impeded our ability to reduce construction headcount.”
With the Biden Administration’s hostility toward traditional sources of energy, the pipeline looked to be subject to delays that might force the end of the effort. Senator Joe Manchin, however, used his leverage to ensure the removal of federal and court obstacles to completion.
Senate Democrats in 2022 only enjoyed a slender majority able to advance the President’s economic agenda, the centerpiece of which was the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Manchin’s support was critical to passage, so he secured commitments from Congressional Democratic leaders and Biden to allow the pipeline to be finished.
He also pushed his Building American Energy Security Act of 2022 to passage, which both reformed the permitting process and specifically protected the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Additionally, Manchin filed an amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case that overturned a stay on construction issued by the Fourth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.
Mountain Valley Pipeline commenced operations on June 14.